Futuristic Priestesses & Ancient Puppies
by roar sora
Summary: It was never ideal to be told when he must bear a child to become the heir of the West, so when Sesshoumaru finally comes down to doing the deed, who is the lucky demoness? Why, she isn't a demoness at all! Sess/Kag. Potential for lemon/lime events.
1. Chapter 1

**Futuristic Priestesses & Ancient Puppies **  
Sesshoumaru / Kagome  
It was never ideal to be told when he must bear a child to become the heir of the West, so when Sesshoumaru finally comes down to doing the deed, who is the lucky demoness? Why, she isn't a demoness at all!  
**  
Author's note**: Yeah, I'm aware that the title is totally unoriginal, but the story won't be half bad if I can ever get myself around to updating after I post this chapter. Encouraging reviews would be mighty wonderful. If you decide to embark on this journey with me, I'll have you know that Sesshoumaru is a very complicated being to write. Plus I don't actually know anything about feudal Japan so many things are probably going to be incorrect.

PS: future chapters will probably contain rape (and consensual sex!) and all of that jazz, but I don't think allows you to post dirty scenes anymore. I'll probably have to post those elsewhere if you are wanting to read them.

• • •

"_It was once said, long, long ago that few of the most powerful priestesses in all of Japan were capable of bearing fully demon young should they be willing. Their spiritual abilities became one with their chosen demon mate, and although the priestess herself would still be nothing but a mere mortal, her offspring would not have to life the life of an outcast. For many thousands of years humans and demons came together in flurries of carnal desire, where no eyes could watch them and from them came half-demon spawn that no one ever took a particular shining to. One girl had fallen so deeply in love with her fully demon counterpart, that she had requested to bear a child for him. He'd recoiled at the absurdity of it all, and the simple shrine maiden had smiled a smile so pure and pleasant, extending her hand gracefully to her demon mate. They'd taken to their carnal desires and wrung against one another in the deepest of the night, the man didn't question her. He trusted her, and with that she blessed him with a full demon baby growing amidst the depths of her womb. _

"_Never the less, during her pregnancy the wolf demon she had fallen so in love with was struck down in battle and died. Deep in despair the woman grew weak and lonely. Her powers were failing her, and during the birth of her strong, full-demon baby she had coiled up within herself and chosen to die. Stories twisted, and many blamed the birth of the demon baby for his mother's untimely passing. The poor village that the infant resided in had been slaughtered when a howling, wild pack of wolves came through. Their eyes bled red and many humans were taken out by the four-legged animalistic creatures. One had stopped and cocked its curiously large head at the basket where the wolf demon pup lay, crying his sorry little eyes out. It sniffed once, twice and recoiled back with a wrinkle upon its maw. Lifting the aforementioned large head into the air the wolf howled its tune into the breeze, and turned, leaving without a second glance. Many moments later the door to the empty, darkened hut was lifted aside and a woman stepped in with her arms folded and a smirk playing across her calloused features. _

"_She accepted the crying child and took him in to her arms as though he had been a child of hers all along._" The reader paused, his brows furrowing at the rather lame ending to the myth. "So apparently that is the story of the demon who had been born of both a human and a what was it… oh! Yes, born from both a human and a wolf demon." He nodded his head, brushing one hand over the worn parchment and admiring the texture for a moment before peeling his gaze over and smiling weakly. "I hope I have found what you requested then, milord?" Head tilted, his eyes bulging slightly, hand removing from the parchment to loop his fingers with his other hand. He swallowed the hard lump that had formed in his throat after getting no response for more than a minute. He suddenly feared his for his life. Perhaps he should have read the story with animated voiced, although no one had spoken, he could have animated it in some way to make it more entertaining for his particularly uninterested lord. Swallowing again as he had not been relieved of the lump, he tried his chances and spoke once more. "I am curious though, milord, what has you curious about humans birthing full demon children?"

It was this question that he had decided to bless the small green imp with a response to. "Priestesses, although human, are strong." He replied, a slightly downward crease forming in the corners of his mouth. "Instead of bearing a plain demon child amongst two demon parents, would it not be beneficial to have a child born of pure demon heritage but with the obscure powers of a priestess as well?" It was here that his curiosity flickered amongst rage and disappointment as the eyes of his retainer only widened more and an ugly green jaw had fallen to the floor in disbelief.

Choosing not to shorten his life any further, the imp stood back and waved his arms. "Lord Sesshoumaru you are a genius!" He howled. "I am sure if you are planning this for yourself, this is an immensely beneficial act for you!" Jakken was lying of course. Although the outcome would be excellent, the actions in between would be horrendous, he was having troubles just thinking about it. "Were you curious because your mother prompted you to have an heir soon?" He'd asked, and Sesshoumaru closed his eyes impatiently to ward off what was certainly about to be a migraine. "Perhaps you aren't even considering this for yourself," Jakken suddenly said in an attempt to reconcile for what he'd said previously. "I am being a fool, you would not lower yourself so much as to perform coitus with a human being…" He slowly began to doubt himself, and his rather threatening lord. "Would you?" Jakken rose an arm to shield his face, cowering slightly in anticipation for his impending doom.

"I think I have chosen."

"Milord! Are you certain?"

There was no response, only the deafening sound of claws tapping upon the delicate wood of his desk. The retainer took this as his cue to leave and with a swift bow he had high-tailed it out of Sesshoumaru's office quicker than ever before. The demon lord had been left to his own thoughts and what he had to do. In order to keep his peers and own mother happy, he was expected to mate and have a heir. Mating was far to overrated, this Sesshoumaru did not mate to anyone. He did as he pleased, and mating was certainly something that would come along perhaps another thousand years into his future. For the time being he was sure that assurance of a heir, lest anything happen to him, that the West would still be until the safe ruling of Inu no Taisho's purest bloodline. Although Inuyasha had a place in the West, Sesshoumaru knew that he would rid the world of that wretched stain sooner or later. Vaguely, in the darkest parts of Sesshoumaru's mind, he was sure he'd heard some strange news of his younger half-brother. He was slightly bothered that he didn't remember what the news had been, so he frowned and then dismissed it altogether.

Later that evening as Sesshoumaru sat with his legs folded neatly beneath him, he reached forward with a set of chopstick expertly placed amongst his fingers. A slice of raw tuna was selected and eaten, and the demon lord peered side long to his young human companion. Rin had sneezed and dropped one stick into her bowl of rice, nearly dropping the rice altogether. It wasn't often that Sesshoumaru would sit down for a meal with some of the more important staff in his home. Five others - demons of course - were placed around the low table, quietly eating with straight backs and minimal conversation. During the meal Rin had taken notice that her lord seemed rather distracted. The little girl had grown an inch or two taller since their last adventures all over Japan, she had also grown somewhat more mature. She picked her chopstick up and carefully bowed in apology for her rude human action of sneezing, before continuing to happily eat her meal. "Lord Sesshoumaru!" She had piped once she noticed that others have begun to clear their plates away. "Master Jakken mentioned that you would be travelling soon." She seemed slightly disappointed with this fact, she liked to spend her time with the stoic demon. "I don't suppose that you'll be going alone?"

"Yes." He said in response to her after swallowing the tea he'd had in his mouth. He'd been taken back by her forwardness, and Jakken's large mouth. "I do believe I will be travelling alone."

"Are we ever going to travel together again my lord? With Ah-Un and Jakken?"

"Is that something you are wishing to do, Rin?"

"Well it's been so long! We used to all the time when you found me, remember?" She smiled sweetly. "After the Shikon no Tama was fixed, we haven't really left the palace. But I guess you're busy doing your lordly things, huh Lord Sesshoumaru?"

His upper lip twitched, "lordly things" was hardly the correct terminology for what he spent hours of his day doing. His offices were stocked full with letters, treaties, scrolls and maps. Despite being a lethal killing machine all on his own, he was a very strategic man when it came down to commanding his armies. He sat back slightly once he had finished another sip of tea, setting his fine china down. Servants were set clearing parts of the table away from Sesshoumaru and his guests, pouring more fresh tea for everybody. "But yeah, I guess you could say that I'd like to travel!" She piped in through his train of thought and he refocused his gaze to the little girl seated diagonally from him.

"Then we shall, however not any time soon."

"Thank-you Lord Sesshoumaru!"

• • •

"I thought I told you to leave it alone!" A familiar growl and a push.

"No! You're hurt, sit -" she shoved back, "down and let me! -" he growled again and scowled. "Let me stitch it Inuyasha!"

"I said it was fine, it'll heal!"

"Listen to me, you're not a damn demon anymore. I know that you'd probably rather have Kikyou do this for you, but hey! I'm good at stitching people up now too, thank-you very much!" She placed a hand on her hip and stood with it tilted outward, a horrible glare adorning her usually pretty face.

"Hey!" Inuyasha protested still, but finally gave up and jutted his arm out in the direction of Kagome. She sat down next to her friend and sighed, pulling her now very worn first aid box closer to her. Inside lay materials from feudal Japan, because the things from her era had been used up a very long time ago. With a string and a needle she carefully sewed a gash in Inuyasha's arm up after cleaning it quite thoroughly. "Being a human stinks." The former half-breed said with a guttural growl that would have been much more intimidating had he still been a dog. Old habits never died and the black-haired idiot still managed to act rather canine even though his ears, claws and fangs had disappeared.

When Kagome had finally put the shards of the Shikon no Tama together it was her that could make the final wish upon it. Although Inuyasha selfishly still wanted to become a full demon, the teenager from the future had a much different idea. __

"I know what I'm going to wish for." She says with confidence. "Maybe I'll see you after this, and maybe not." There is a tone of sadness, although goodbyes had already been exchanged previously just in case the jewel took Kagome back to her time once it was used up.

By the end of their adventure, Inuyasha and Kagome had become closer than expected. Kagome had always been so deeply in love with the half demon strictly for who he was. She loved him when he was a human on the new moon, and half demon most of the time, she even loved him when he was full demon although that form general left her feeling frightened. It had been implied that Inuyasha too, loved her. With Kikyou hardly ever mentioned and Inuyasha's insistent will to run away and go to her, he and Kagome ha finally been able to establish a relationship. Kagome knew that it wasn't right, and with a frown she had made her wish. __

She had closed her hands around the jewel and closed her eyes as well. A wrinkle in her brow had formed when she concentrated hard on what she wanted, and finally the jewel emanated it great powers and left the Earth granting Kagome her wish. It was back to day one, with the jewel still in existence. Kikyou was on her way, walking around a field with the Shikon no Tama in her hands and a smile upon her face. Inuyasha was perched next to the stream that he and Kikyou had spent so much time together by, his puppy ears swivelling each and every way until the woman of his dreams had come behind him bearing the jewel to him. She had handed it to him, and Inuyasha had made the wish he was meant to make, becoming human so that Kikyou could lead a normal life without the burden, so that they could live happily together as humans. Although at this point a friendship had not been established amongst Miroku, Sango, Kagome, Shippou and Inuyasha, he had still remembered them when he came back into the village as a fully transformed human. It had hurt Kagome when she was still there, when Inuyasha returned from wherever he had been as a human and with his hand in Kikyou's.

"Why am I still here?" She says nervously, eyes burning with unshed tears. "I'm supposed to be at home!" And after many desperate attempts to get through the well, for some reason fate had left her within feudal Japan sealed forever. Kagome's heart had been sore for many months as she watched Inuyasha settle down with Kikyou finally, but she had made the wish because she knew that some day she would have had to go home and they wouldn't have been able to pursue a proper relationship. If she had only known that the jewel would have kept her here, then she might have wished a little differently. 

"All finished!" Kagome chirped, patting Inuyasha's now stitched arm. He recoiled and hissed in pain, giving her a dirty stare. "Oh don't be such a baby. Maybe you should be a little more careful when working with the farming equipment!" She gave him a playful tap on the shoulder before packing her things and standing. She had abandoned her middle school uniform a long time ago, and wore a set of priestesses robes now. Besides Kikyou and Kaede, she was the next best thing to come to for aid in the village. The growing town of Edo was very fortunate to have three priestesses in their midst, although Kagome liked to travel to nearby villages and offer as much help as she could.

"Keh, it still hurts." He complained, looking up at her when she had stood. He folded his arms, sore one on top to relieve him of some of his aches and pains. The former half-demon didn't move, instead he just stayed put and pouted moodily into the distance. Kagome shook her head.

"You've got some nerve! Don't I at least deserve some gratitude? Next time I'll let it fester and hopefully your arm will fall off!"

"Yeah, right. Kikyou would fix it. She wouldn't hit it after, either."

"Kikyou would fix it~" Kagome mocked with a hand on her hip, glaring at the man. "Well sorry that I'm not Kikyou, it probably would have gotten infected if I didn't take care of it, she's not going to be back in Edo for a few more days."

"Whatever."

• • •

"Milord, won't you reconsider this ridiculous quest?" Jakken's voice came, sounding worried and vaguely frightened. The thunderous footfalls of Ah and Un came from behind the small green kappa, who was miniscule in comparison to the dragon who's reigns he was pulling. "What priestess will you find to bear your young? What one would be willing!" He shouted, his face melting as he slobbered all over himself, crying.

"Are you suggesting that bearing my offspring is not a privilege, Jakken?" His voice was cool and his face deadpan. There was a slight crease on his nose suggesting that he had wrinkled it in distaste at the smaller demon's behaviour.

"No milord! Any woman would be, well they would blessed to be given that privilege by you!" He bowed so low his face hit the dirt and Ah and Un had nearly stepped on him. Jakken quickly rushed out of the way of the dragon's clawed foot before following the certain steps of his lord. "But my lord, priestesses… well! They are holy, and you are a demon. Have you thought this through thoroughly?" He frowned. He'd just overstepped his boundaries again.

"Holy or not, this Sesshoumaru is not overcome by anyone."

Sighing, the little imp closed his bulging yellow eyes and followed blindly through the forest as their lord manoeuvred cleverly amongst the tall trees and littered forest floor. Ah and Un had troubles seeking out paths through trees in which he would fit, and once they had broken into a slight dirt clearly, Sesshoumaru had turned to his dragon, mounted and took to the sky. Jakken had to scramble up between the two great necks otherwise he would have been left behind. He sighed, loathing the fact that he was usually rendered useless by his lord in any situation. Turning he faced forward and was greeted with the beauty of the sun radiating orange and pink low in the sky. The silky canvas of green tree tops below them blurred at the speed of Ah and Un's flight and Jakken began to relaxed with his head down. Despite the loveliness of the ending day, he was forlorn that his lord was planning on taking a human carrier.

**A/N**: Yep that's it for this chapter, just review please!


	2. Chapter 2

**Futuristic Priestesses & Ancient Puppies**  
Sesshoumaru / Kagome  
Chapter 02.

**Author's note**: Okay yay. Chapter two. I've never gotten past chapter one, but my bro buddy dude man Nadine has told me to continue, and I'd like, cross Canada for her so here she goes, more Sesshoumaru-y goodness. And a tidbit of wolf demon.

• • •

"Guess I can't use my hilarious nicknames for you anymore, eh?" Came a sigh from a particularly handsome wolf demon, kicking a stone.

"Can it, ya mangy wolf."

Kouga clicked his tongue disapprovingly, snorting and twitching his tail after it had bristled. Inuyasha still rubbed him the wrong way, even though he was human now. "Make me." He responded, immaturely.

With his right hand on Tetsusaiga's hilt, Inuyasha let out a withering growl, glaring daggers in the direction of the wolf demon. Tetsusaiga no longer transformed for him, he was sure his father hadn't anticipated his turning into a mortal. The demonic blade remained a tattered, beaten sword when it was drawn from it's sheath, however power still emanated from it once in a while. Grunting, the human Inuyasha stepped back and instead bore his fists at Kouga. "You're pathetic without the jewel shards in your legs, I bet I could kick your ass even now that I'm human." Despite choosing Kikyou and living happily with her, he still felt jealousy burn his heartstrings away whenever the wolf came to visit Kagome.

"I'm not here to waste my time with you," he said, moving to brush Inuyasha aside as though he had been a flea, "where's my beautiful Kagome?"

"Keeeeh?" Inuyasha howled, reaching to grab hold of the wolf and throw him back. "Don't run away you coward! She's not _yours_ either!"

"Well she's certainly not yours, now is she?"

"I don't belong to _anyone_!" Speak of the Devil herself, a fuming futuristic female stood not ten yards away, her face flushed with anger. She could feel her heart beating in her ears as she watched the squabble from her place. Kouga's hand was shoved into Inuyasha's face and the human boy was pushed back onto his behind, cursing the entire way down. The wolf trotted up to her with a charming expression, one eyebrow tilting curiously while his smile remained lopsided. Inuyasha huffed, folding his hands within the Fire Rat robes, still glaring and looking particularly pouty, he was a sad sight.

"Why of course you do, Kagome, are you not my woman?" A frown, widened, sad eyes.

"… Kouga, haven't we talked about this?" Kagome asked, sounding particularly exhausted. She still hadn't washed her hands from her latest priestess duties, and Kouga frowned at the blood. One sniff told him that it wasn't hers and he seemed satisfied.

"Yes, and we've established your place in my pack."

"No, no we haven't. You know I belong here, I help people."

"You stay for mutt-brain over there." He said, huffing indignantly.

"I do not. I stay in case the well opens up, Kouga." She lied, looking up at him with a smile to reassure herself and him. "If I have the chance, I'm going to go home. Despite thinking that I belong here helping people, I really belong five hundred years in the future." Her smile faded. "I would have been finished high school by now, you know? But I've spent too many years here."

"High… School?"

"Her education, you dumbass wolf." Inuyasha barked, having risen and come up to the two, narrowing his eyes. "In the future they have better education systems than we do, she gave it up for us."

"Gave it up for you, idiot." Kouga said grouchily, folding his arms. Kagome tapped him playfully on the forearm.

"Gave it up for everyone." She correctly kindly, tilting her head. "Say, how come you're here, anyway Kouga-kun?"

"Obviously idiot for brains is here for _you_, stupid." Inuyasha shot moodily, turning away to march off. Kagome only closed her eyes and glanced at his retreating form for a moment before her attention was back on the proud looking wolf demon, who's tail swished in amongst his mokomoko.

"So you're here to see me?" She questioned, placing her hands on her hips.

"Of course, my Kagome." He said with another lopsided smile. "I've come to see that you are well, that moron over there is taking proper care of you." Usually Inuyasha would have shot back at Kouga's insult, but with his human ears he hadn't caught on to the wolf's hurtful words. Instead he kept walking until he had disappeared into the village and a cry from Shippou radiated somewhere from Kagome's left. She narrowed her eyes and tried to focus her attention on Kouga, but it was hard when Inuyasha was being so jealous. It never made sense, his jealously. He'd chosen Kikyou, so why wouldn't he let Kagome get on with her life? Besides! Kouga was attracti - _Wait! Am I really thinking about this? Kouga-kun, attractive? - _ve. She gave a deep sigh and smiled weakly.

"He's a bit sensitive lately, Kouga-kun, can you try not to insult him?" She knew it was a stretch to try and ask him this, as neither of them gave up once they were in the same vicinity. Surprisingly though, Inuyasha still hadn't returned.

"Ah, why do you care about his feelings?" Kouga said smugly, waving his hand in the air with a theatrical sniff. "He didn't give two shits about yours back in the day, he's just a jerk Kagome. You should stop meddling with riff-raff." With that stated, he wrapped a very toned arm around her middle and placed his hand on the delicate small of her back. He gave a gentle pull and Kagome reluctantly moved in the direction he'd wanted her to go. "Come for a walk, love. We need to catch up." He flashed a fangy, devious grin and peered up into the midday sky.

• • •

"Oh, oh ahhhugh…" Wheezed the small imp, Jakken. He held his arms around his belly and had dropped the Staff of Two Heads into the dirt, crouching over. The sun was high in the sky and shining down on them in an unforgiving fashion. Even the great two headed beast was having difficulty in the summer's heated rays. He would grunt and snort and become fairly untamed when he was uncomfortable, leaving Jakken attempt to handle a creature that was twenty times larger than himself. Ah-Un lifted one head angrily and pulled the imp to his feet, while the other head gave a menacing growl through his saliva soaked muzzle. "Oh! Shush you great monster, you aren't the only one who is sweating!" He shrieked, picking the staff up to leap and hit the dragon's forehead with it. "You shut up now!"

He began to drag himself and the dragon into the shade, where he sat himself down. Leaning forward both the heads of Ah-Un glared at Jakken until their muzzles were removed and reigns untied. One head bore his teeth at the imp before turning away and grazing in the lush green grass. "For a herbivore, you can be quite intimidating." Jakken seethed, rolling over on to his side and laying there uselessly. "Why has milord left me with such an impossible crowd? Thank the gods that human Rin is not present with us as well." He was talking to himself, as he usually did. It eased his mind when he was alone and even with Sesshoumaru present, Jakken might had been better off talking to himself anyway. The demon lord hardly responded to anything that the imp told him. Jakken rolled on to his belly. "I am a dutiful vassal, and yet I am treated as nothing more than dirt." He sighed longingly, dreaming of becoming more than just the moss under Sesshoumaru's toes. It wasn't long until a bubble of snot formed in his nose, growing and shrinking as he breathed deeply in a troubled sleep.

The water was cool against the taught skin of his back, lapping up his shoulder blades delicately, soothing his heated body. His mind was cluttered with unnecessary thoughts and feelings, and a permanent scowl rested upon an otherwise perfect façade. He lifted one arm and gently washed his left side, breezing his fingertips over the plains of his chest. He'd grown dirty in his latest encounter, humans bombarding him. 

_"A human? No, you can't be. You are nothing more than a filthy demon, I see it in those unruly markings you have. No man has a pet like that, what is it - a fucking dragon?" _

_"Filthy?" _

_"You speak as though I am lower than you, you're disgusting!" It was a human lord, of course. He rode upon horseback, a white steed. His men behind him were anxious and bore weapons that would be useless against Sesshoumaru, what little they knew. _

_"How _dare_ you speak that way to Lord Sesshoumaru!" Barked the shrill tones of Jakken, defensively stepping out from behind Sesshoumaru's hakama pant leg. "You should bow quickly and beg for forgiveness, unless you are willing to embrace an early and gruesome death!" _

_The humans laughed, all of them. Some deep, others higher, none the less they seemed fairly amused. This didn't please Sesshoumaru to be met with such disrespect, he narrowed his strangely golden eyes and his upper lip twitched. _

_"There are none higher than I, Sesshoumaru." _

_These words triggered the human lord's attack, right upon the dirt road early that morning. He pushed his horse forward and the animal charged, warlike and trusting of his human rider. A katana was drawn and the human was still chuckling cockily to himself. _

_"I shall have your head!" He called, and just as he was about to glide past Sesshoumaru and bring his blade across the demon's neck, all four legs of the steed had been taken out by claws. Blood splattered and the horse fell forward, throwing his human rider right over his head. The animal shrieked and wiggled all four of his stubs, quickly bleeding to death. Sesshoumaru cracked his knuckles and flexed his claws, peeling his gaze to the other men who chose to attack him. Drawing his sword wasn't necessary, humans weren't worthy of the unimaginable power that Tokijin bore. He scoffed and was quicker than the speed of light, his fore and middle finger together and pointed forward, glowing eerily. A whip of pure power in the form of light lashed out from Sesshoumaru's fingers, severing heads from shoulders, and torsos from lower haves. Horses were decapitated and literally torn apart. Those that made it close enough to him suffered by him personally injecting poison into their veins via his extended claws. _

_Stepping over to the broken body of the lord, still alive, Sesshoumaru picked the katana up from the ground and swiftly cut his throat. Disrespectfully he stepped upon the man's face and carried on as though nothing had happened, as though twenty people hadn't just lost their lives in a matter of minutes. He idly picked a spot of blood from under his claw, his lips turned down into a rather displeased expression._

"Humans," he uttered, disgusted. His mind was still in turmoil about his entire quest. He was questioning it. Was he truly willing to lay with a human? No matter how powerful, a human was still a human. He wrinkled his nose distastefully and tilted his head to rid his drape of silver locks of any remaining bloodshed. Surely it could be described as 'taking one for the team' as some would say. There were no worthy dog demons in the country that Sesshoumaru necessarily felt like courting. Many were stuck up, and came from his mother's tribe, they expected to be mated if they were to carry a child. Sesshoumaru still wouldn't mate, he refused. He dipped his claws into the water and made sure to rid them of any redness.

The only woman that Sesshoumaru had pictured in his head was one not clad in red and white, but green. He scoffed, that scanty little skirt was probably the only thing that kept Inuyasha even remotely near what was her name? _Kagome_, his mind supplied and he narrowed his eyes. She had been the one to help in the aid of Naraku's death because heaven forbid, if Inuyasha had been able to kill him on his own Sesshoumaru would have had to hang himself. He tilted himself within the water and took much care into cleaning his wrists and hands. Despite being a particularly efficient killing machine he was also very sanitary, that and the scent of human blood drove his senses haywire and made his most recent meal curdle right in his stomach.

After he had thoroughly cleaned himself in the refreshing stream, he'd carefully dressed himself and retied all of the complicated knots that ran hand in hand with the clothing he wore. His armour was strapped on to him next, and his mokomoko was brushed free of any blood and draped around his shoulder comfortably. Tokijin and Tensaiga were happily resting at his hip and the demon lord turned himself to begin the short trek back to where he had left Ah-Un and Jakken without a word of where he was going.

Slowly as he rounded the edge of the forest to where a snoozing Jakken lay, he quirked a slender brow and gazed curiously around the clearing for his pet dragon. "Ah-Un," he said, voice low and particularly eerie, "where have you run off to?" As his steps grew louder while he approached his imp vassal, Jakken did not stir, earning him a swift kick in the side. "Jakken, you have lost Ah-Un, I am disappointed."

"Wh.. Wha? _Oh!_ Milord?" He breathed, wheezing once he had woken and he carefully nursed the pain that radiated from the kick. "Ah-Un? AH-UN!" He gasped, his eyes (which had been half shut with drowsiness) flew wide open and he threw his arms into the air in a potential flail. "Where did that stupid dragon run off to? I let him loose for just a moment to eat -"

"And you fall asleep." Sesshoumaru provided.

"I - uh… Well yes, milord." He hung his head and sighed, flapping one arm uselessly. "I will find him." He said, punching himself in the chest and nodding, as if reassuring himself that he would. Picking up the Staff of Two Heads and skittering off into the woods, Jakken's calls could be heard for a long time before finally fading in the distance. Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes and bent forward, picking up the two muzzles and reigns from the ground.

"Come, Ah-Un we shall leave."

The dragon emerged from his shady hiding place and eagerly accepted his reigns and muzzles, bowing his heads low to Sesshoumaru.

• • •

"So you really won't come, eh?" He asked, his tail swaying and his toes curling and uncurling.

"I can't, I'm sorry Kouga-kun."

"Whether you can or not, would you have _wanted_ to?"

"I -" she paused, her eyes widened a little. _Would I have?_ She questioned herself, and slowly closed her eyes, her lips curling into a slight frown. _Maybe because he's so nice to me… but Higurashi Kagome doesn't live in caves._ "Maybe." She whispered, and offered a meek smile. In the back of her mind she knew that Inuyasha would have been hysterical to hear her now. She groaned inwardly, trying to focus on what was happening in front of her and not the human boy she had left fuming back in the village.

Kouga's eyes shone and his face lightened considerably. "You mean that, Kagome?"

"I said maybe Kouga-kun, I'm not… I'm not going to fall in love with anyone any time soon, I'm sorry." She frowned and offered him an apologetic smile.

He only smiled back and took her hands into his, holding them between their chests. He didn't seem to care whether she loved him or not. "That's alright, I'll wait."

"_Kouga.._" Kagome heaved a great sigh and pulled her hands out of his, but he didn't accept that action and instead moved to embrace her, cautiously.

"_Kagome_." He heaved right back, playfully. She pushed him, and he tugged her along with him. Over the course of the past year Kouga had grown more mature and surprisingly patient with Kagome as she tagged along after Inuyasha, hopelessly in love with the brash dog demon. It had been mentioned on more than one occasion that it might be beneficial for Kagome to court Kouga, which had been suggested by the ancient priestess Kaede. It was quite weird to stand Kikyou and Kaede next to one another, knowing that Kaede had been the younger of the two. She looked distracted, and her face had fallen. Kouga watched her curiously, raising his eyebrows.

"What're you thinking about, Kagome?"

"Ohh… nothing." _Just Inuyasha and Kikyou and their stupid happiness, that's all. _

• • •

It had been another two days of travelling before Sesshoumaru reached the outskirts of Edo. By now Jakken had caught on to his plans and the wide eyed imp had not been very pleased about the situation as a whole. He muttered stupid things the entire way there and the demon lord had been partially torn between tying him up and throwing him in the river, or sending him into enemy territory on a ridiculous quest. Either way, it would have ultimately ended in Jakken's death and Sesshoumaru's peace. The dog demon, one of the last of his kind, stood quietly at the edge of Inuyasha's forest with a quirked brow and a tilted head.

"The Bone Eater's well," his vassal had begun to explain, ranting on about it's history.

"Mm, the well that the girl used." Sesshoumaru said, ignoring Jakken's ranting about the old demon bones that folk used to toss into it. He stepped forward from the shady darkness of the forest. The grass was dry from the summer's heat and wild animals all around them were making their evening calls to one another. The sun was beginning to set, casting a familiar orange and pink glow across the sky. It illuminated Sesshoumaru, giving him a rather warm appearance instead of his usual iciness. He continued across the long grass, stepping over bright summer flowers that immediately brought his mind back to Rin. He felt guilty. The child had wanted so badly just to travel with them, to spend time with _him_ and he had rejected her. She was at home, more or less getting ready for bed at this hour. He peered into the sky, his eyes narrowed in thought as he lost himself within the depths of his mind, slowly seating himself with his back rested against the rotting wood of the well. Just as Inuyasha had so many times in the past few years.

"Ah… yes, um, milord?" Jakken looked confused, watching the demon lord cross the field to seat himself, looking rather trance-like. "I suppose we will be sleeping here before we attack in the morning, am I correct?"

"Mm," responded the lord with a frown, watching as Ah-Un was released and Jakken bustled to begin a fire. That's right. The whole reason he was here was to rip Kagome away from what was now her home. It didn't take much planning, Sesshoumaru was sure he could find ways to take the young girl without much force. He himself wasn't particularly interested in having a spiritual arrow shot though his chest, although he was sure that the threat remained. "Isn't it peculiar, Jakken? I do not smell Inuyasha anymore."

"W-what? Your half-breed brother?"

"Who else?"

Jakken stuck his nose straight into the air and when he couldn't catch the scent of a half demon's blood, he smirked. "The your plan should go without fail, milord!" He said giddily, seating himself down and starting a fire after he'd run around to gather pieces of kindling and wood.

"I do not fail, the priestess will be leaving - _willingly_ - by noon tomorrow."

* * *

**A/N:** Review? :3 Yay! I actually _finished_ another chapter, maybe this story will go somewhere.. n_n;


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